The International Cricket Thread

[PaulWinch again]

Embarrassing, no other word for it. They have embarrassed themselves. They look mentally gone after 5 days of cricket.

[PaulWinch again]

So many have had terrible games. Smith is a real worry too, he looks gone.

I should clarify - I think he’s a very talented player, but if a break would do him good. Who’s there to replace him?

[aj2k77]

Englands batting is pure shit and their philosophy on how to play test match cricket. It's lazy, just throw the bat at everything, requires no thinking or planning or management.

[taylorsworkrate]

Englands batting is pure shit and their philosophy on how to play test match cricket. It's lazy, just throw the bat at everything, requires no thinking or planning or management.

I think England need to play positively. They tried the negative attritional approach in 2017 and 2021 tours to Australia and they got smashed anyway.

The problem is that they can't (more likely won't) adapt to conditions or match circumstance. How many players have got out driving at balls on the up this series? It's a shot that everyone knows you just don't play in Australia, yet they keep doing it.

Also the bowling and tactics on the field. All day yesterday exploring the middle of the pitch giving Australia runs. Its arrogance. Its the whole "we are the saviours of test cricket" bollocks that they think they are. They got away with it for a year and a half when it took teams by surprise, but for a long time now its been dross.

[PaulWinch again]

Playing positive is fine, but you have to have game awareness and be able to go up and down the gears. At their best in the last couple of years they have done that - but they’re not doing that now, they are not thinking and adapting.

[PaulWinch again]

There are many players you could drop, but Pope has to go now. His innings today showed he cannot adapt to circumstance. He has so many opportunities and warnings, but his brain didn’t trigger.

[KevinGage]

It's going to end up three test series out there going forward.

From a sporting point of view it prob should.

One competitive series in the last thirty years. Hard to justify five games of this muck on such a consistent basis.

But Cricket Australia make a lot of $ out of England taking their travelling shitshow to five Aussie cities every few years. So can't see that changing.

[PaulWinch again]

Contrast our “effort” and fight vs that of the Windies - dead and buried and remarkable effort to draw.